Raynham officials say new Walmart could affect traffic on Route 138

Thursday

Mar 6, 2014 at 6:43 PMMar 10, 2014 at 7:14 PM

Marc Larocque Enterprise Staff Writer @Enterprise_Marc

RAYNHAM — Raynham town officials are hoping that the new Walmart will contribute greatly to the community’s economy and tax base, but how much it will affect traffic flow on Route 138 remains a question.

The new Walmart Supercenter, which is scheduled to open on March 12, is the company’s second store in town, joining another located on Route 44. It will be the 24th Walmart Supercenter in Massachusetts, with 3,275 Supercenters nationwide.

“Hopefully, it’s going to have a positive effect on the economy with the tax revenue it’s bringing in,” said John Charbonneau, Raynham’s town planner. “Apparently, Wal-Mart believes it’ll draw from different market areas from the existing one. That should help. It’ll bring some business from people who live just south from Taunton. It’ll be another place on 138, hopefully, for people to stop and contribute revenue to the town of Raynham.”

The effect on traffic is more of a question, although Walmart has installed traffic lights in front of its new store on Route 138, which are now functioning.

When it comes to the change in traffic that can be expected on Route 138 because of the new Walmart, Charboneau said it won’t be completely clear until the store is up and bustling.

“As far as traffic, there is still some mitigation left to go,” Charbonneau said. “It’ll be difficult to gauge the traffic until all mitigation measures are in. I certainly hope the traffic mitigation installed are sufficient to handle not only general traffic picking up, but additional traffic generated by Walmart.”

Charbonneau said that a second set of traffic lights, at the intersection of Center Street, another mitigation being funded by Walmart, will be installed at a later point, likely in the summer once land taking is completed and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation gives their approval.

“It’ll probably happen later on this year,” he said. “I think everyone is waiting to see how Route 138 Corridor will truly be impacted by this.”

John Noblin, chairman of the Raynham Economic and Business Development Commission, said that particularly when considering the inability of Raynham Park to secure the state’s sole slot license, the construction of the new Walmart will be a big help contributing to the “future of the town” on Route 138. Noblin said while increased traffic may be expected, the addition of a second Walmart located in Raynham will be an overall benefit for the town.

“The town welcomes the new commercial facility,” Noblin said. “It helps immensely in terms of taxes. Sure, there’ll be a little more traffic, but not much of a problem. There has always been traffic.”

Representatives from the new Walmart said the store is holding its grand opening at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Walmart provided the Taunton Gazette with an inside look at the new 150,000-square-foot store on Route 138, as new employees stacked shelves and set up displays on Thursday. The store has around 800 parking spaces, a grocery department, electronics, a gardening center, a WalMart.com item pickup center, a clothing section, a Subway sandwich shop, a “Smart Style” salon, a vision center, a pharmacy, 17 cash registers up front and other components typical of the superstore format.

The new Walmart, which took one year to build, will have 300 employees earning an average of $13.87 per hour, and will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., said Ashley Viveiros, the manager of the store.

“It’s been a great group of people working here,” Viveiros said, adding that the store is still hiring. “It’s a good mix of locals and others.”

Viveiros said that the new Walmart is far enough away from the original store located to co-exist, drawing customers from different highways, with Route 495 near the new location and Route 24 off of the original one in Raynham.

The Rout 138 Walmart will not serve beer and other alcohol products, like the longstanding Walmart off of Route 44 in Raynham already does, Viveiros said.

“We don’t sell alcohol at all of our stores,” said Viveiros, explaining that it was a strategic business decision for the new store.

The new store on Route 138 is smaller than the first off of Route 44, which is 200,000 square-feet, but Viveiros said with new store layouts, which emphasize wide aisles and “sleeker, clean look,” it allows for maximum usage of space. The building also has solar panels on the roof, and windows in the ceiling allowing for natural light, which saves energy, she said.

Residents in the nearby area are bracing for increased traffic.

“We will have a tough time getting out of our street,” said Larraine Nickerson, of First Street, who has been active in recent years with a group of neighbors concerned about Route 138 traffic. “I think it’ll be very difficult. But until they open … we don’t really know.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.